Asmodee relies on board gaming rule #356, which states that adding cute penguins to any product immediately improves it. That cuteness would be deceiving, however, as the penguins of Zany Penguins are slowly marching their way to world domination. Problem is, on the way to conquering the globe, they’ve split amongst themselves. A set collection and area control game, Zany Penguins has players gathering hands of penguins cards, each with their own value and abilities, then using them strategically to occupy various zones. Waddle your way to victory!

Like every Agatha Christie murder mystery (or Clue, if you’re my age), Fantasy Flight‘s new deception game, Hoax, is set at a posh mansion after the death of its wealthy owner. Players are given one of seven character cards, each with an identity and specific abilities, but then have to discover who everyone else is. The twist: you can claim to be whomever you want to be. Using accusations and deductions, players will attempt to uncover the lies and expose their opponents. Fans of Bang! or Spyfallshould make sure to try their hand at Hoax.

Get your Indiana Jones on with Loot’n'Run from Iello. A card game for two to six players, Loot’n'Run is comprised of fifty-four different room cards that players will simultaneously sift through. Everyone is vying for the best loot, but dangerous guardians can be awoken and turned on other players at any time. Bluff your way to fortune and glory to claim the win!

This weekend sees the newest expansion for Elder Sign, Omens of Ice. In the expansion players will find an entirely original adventure to the icy ranges of Alaska. When a blanket of endless snow has covered the planet, investigators must travel North in hopes of discovering the source. On their adventure they will encounter new Ancient Ones and other hardships. Complete with new allies, spells, and items, Omens of Ice can be incorporated into the base Elder Sign board game to expand the experience.

Another in the popular Tales and Games series (frequently featured on Tabletop), The Pied Piper is another affordable game for families of all ages. With variants for less and more experience players, The Pied Piper sees two to five gamers attempting to fill their opponents house board with as many rats as possible. Lure the rats out of your house and place them into the houses of your challengers, but, beware, they can do the same to you. Like all of the previous Tales and Games releases, The Pied Piper not only includes the game, but also the entire original story it is based off of.

You don’t have to give into the dark side to purchase them but it might help, the newest wave of Star Wars X-Wing ships are out this weekend. Already sold out at multiple locations, this wave of ships was hotly anticipated. For one reason, the set includes two ships pulled directly from the Star Wars Rebels cartoon series. First up, are the two new large ship expansions, the Punishing One and the Ghost (complete with the Phantom shuttle). Second, the small ship expansions include the Mist Hunter, the ship used by bounty hunter Zuckuss, and the second ship from Rebels, the Tie Inquisitor. Make sure to lose that annoying droid, Chopper, then head up to get a hold of the newest additions to your fleet.

Indiana Jones would tell you these artifacts belong in a museum, and as the owner of your own archaeological company in Artifacts, Inc., that’s exactly what you’ll attempt to do. An up to sixty minute playtime dice rolling game for two to four players, Artifacts, Inc. has players rolling dice (which represent adventurers) in order to place them onto cards (that require specific numbers) in order to gain cash and favor with museums.

Staying in the realm of tombs and buried treasure, Valley of the Kings: Afterlife is out this weekend. The second expansion/stand alone addition to this Egyptian themed deck building series, Afterlife can be played with one to four players or added to the original to facilitate six player play.

As there can never be enough games that feature everyone’s favorite elder god or a deck building mechanic, Cthulhu Realms combines the two in a cheap, quick to learn package. Putting a spin on the traditional deck building scheme, Cthulhu Realms allows players to chain cards for a great payoff than if they played them individually. As well, each box contains a special promo character that can be played in the game.

Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice has been combined with zombies before, but never with the mechanics of a card game. Well no more, because the Kickstarter funded Marrying Mr. Darcy card game is on shelves, as of last week. In this literary role-playing card game, players take on the roles of female suitors from the novel, building up their romantic appeal in order to woo a handsome suitor. You’ll attend balls, receive proposals, and cunningly outwit your opponents all in an effort to avoid becoming an old maid.

A possible contender for the minimalist card game spot held by Love Letter, Tides of Time is a card game that consists of only eighteen cards and plays with only two players. Players try to build grand civilizations by combining a set of complimentary cards in their kingdom, while also attempting to sabotage their opponents plans. After three rounds, each player will have either a memorable empire or a pitiful group of random ventures.

A completely standalone addition to the previous Discoveries release, Discoveries: The Journals of Lewis and Clark requests that you get your explorer on! In the game, players will take on the role of either Lewis, Clark, or two of the other members of the famous expedition. Over the course of sixty minutes, players will then compete to collect cards that represent scientific discoveries (as well as victory points). To do that, players will need to roll dice to gain exploration actions.

I think we can all agree that pandas are cute. And more pandas equals greater cuteness. Such is the theory behind Takenoko Chibis, the first expansion for the popular panda gardening game. Pairing this expansion with the base Takenoko game, players will gain a handful of new objectives, new plots (including the discovery of the gardener’s cabin), and an additional figure named Miss Panda. Miss Panda, as well, has the ability of delivering baby pandas, increasing the levels of cuteness to a nearly unbearable degree.

Crush your enemies, see them driven before you, and hear the lamentation of their significant others!

All of this can occur in Ragnarok: Fate of the Norns. This Kickstarter funded roleplaying game is set in a Viking realm, deep and rich with epic grandeur of Norse mythology. Made for two to eight players, Ragnarok relies not on dice rolls, but special rune icons (included with the game).

The far-flung future of the Numenera RPG gains its second supplemental book for the game, The Devil’s Spine. Containing a set of linked adventures, Devil’s Spine can be used to supply singular adventures for the system or the beginnings of a full-on campaign.

Warmachine’s Iron Kingdoms roleplaying system gains a fancy, metal token set this weekend. The set contains focus, spell, feat, cripple, fire, and many more tokens, all of which are dry-erase compatible, allowing you to mark on them without permanent effect.

Warp speed has been engaged on the Redshirts Deluxe Edition. Which means someone is going to be beaten to death by a gorn.

This special edition of the game comes complete with entirely new, remastered artwork as well as the To Boldly Go expansion. For those unfamiliar with the game, each player takes on the role of a starship captain attempting to eliminate all of their own redshirts before any other player can.

The Halloween season is upon us and that includes the King of Tokyo.

King of Tokyo: Halloween is another new expansion for the hit monster-battle game. This expansion contains two new monsters, each creepy and Halloween themed, as well as special costume cards that enhance each monster.

If you’ve ever thought that what the hit deception game, Bang!, was missing is vampires, Blood Bound is the game for you!

Though the company missed out on a huge opportunity to name the game Fang!, Blood Bound is still an awesome group experience where players attempt to figure out who is a vampire and who is a human (among other designations).

Adding more treasures to its booby trapped vault, Fortune and Glory: The Cliffhanger Game gains an expansion in Rise of the Crimson Hand. This expansion adds cards to the game decks, detailed villain miniatures, epic city events, and dangers like never before, including the new “deadly tests” option. Inspired by pulpy adventurers and Indiana Jones, Fortune and Glory is for fans of classic adventure stories.

The Mage Knight board game adds a new ultra baddie in the form of Krang. Krang is a Orc Chaos Shaman, who is a completely playable character coming complete with a miniature, tokens, and cards.

The second Numenera related game to appear tonight, Thunderstone: Numenera is an entirely stand-alone version of the Thunderstone Advanced system, but set in the world of Numenera, an Earth a billion years in the future.

Family drama increases in Gloom: Unquiet Dead.

In the game of darkly humored fratricide, players compete to kill their family members in the most horrific ways. Unquiet Dead adds stories (a new way to kill family members), undead (abilities that let your family become fantastic creatures like werewolves and vampires), and timing symbols (a new feature that effects when actions take place).

Famed game designer Martin Wallace delivers yet another game set in the Discworld of Terry Pratchett. The Witches: A Discworld Game has players taking on the roles of trainee witches in either solo, cooperative, or competitive gameplay modes.

Finally, two of the most popular fantasy gaming franchises come together for a singular gaming experience!

Yes, folks, Munchkin Pathfinder is here!

This new base edition of Munchkin comes with Pathfinder-related characters, monsters, items, and other goodies. And imagine all of that paired with the classic Munchkin wit and John Kovalic’s recognizable artwork.

Pictionary is so last century. PIX by Game Works is were all the cool kids are at now.

A party game based around drawing, PIX forgoes the pad and pencil in favor of pixel squares and a magnetic board. Teams of players take turns using their pixels to (all black except for one red) a picture of the selected word for that turn. Who’ve has the most discernible picture, wins!

Following the month old Warmachine: High Command is the aptly named, Hordes: High Command. This version, too, is a deck building game set in the universe of Warmachine. Each player chooses a different faction (Skorn, Circle of Orobos, Legion of Everblight, and Trollbloods), composed of a different deck of cards, then purchases other cards to strengthen their army and conquer terrain.

Become your own Indiana Jones in Days of Wonder‘s new Relic Runners board game!

Players compete against each other by attempting to collect a set of four unique relics. Taking on the roles of famous archaeologists, each player attempts to make it through a unique trail, acquiring rations on the way in order to move further. A special toolkit, available to each player only after completing certain tasks, can aid them in winning the game by shifting the rules in their favor.

Agricola‘s two-player game, All Creatures Big and Small incorporates More Buildings, Big and Small. These twenty-seven new buildings add entirely original ways to house and contain your animals within the game. Along with the buildings, there is also a fifth stale tile and farm expansion.

Finally, Descent‘s second edition receives another expansion, The Trollfens. This expansion contains a dungeon’s worth of new loot, including two brand new heroes, a handful of monsters, new shop, relic, and class cards, the latter of which will enhancing hunting and mental talents.

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